“I Was Not Embarrassed”: Nia Long Confesses She Did Not Blame Herself for Ime Udoka’s Cheating Scandal

Popular actress and former partner of Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, Nia Long recently sat down with rapper Jeezy for what was a candid interview. Long eventually spoke out about the cheating scandal of Udoka she found herself involved in. The then Boston Celtics head coach was reported to have been involved in an affair with a Celtics employee during his time with the franchise.

The breaking out of the news and the eventual suspension of Udoka was followed by his separation from Long. The recent interview saw the actress talk about the kind of support she received from Black America, especially women, after the incident.

Talking about how cheating was an emotional switch for her, Long claimed that she had immediately realized that things had been chaotic with her fiancé through no fault of her own. “I don’t know for you but for me, it is a shift. When that switch goes on, I had to make myself realize that anything that happened in the last year and a half of my life, that had nothing to do with me,” Long told Jeezy.

The 53-year-old actress claimed that while she was not embarrassed, she was shocked at the kind of love and support that she received not only from Black women, but Black people in general. She claimed that she had no idea her work had had such an impact on people.

“I was not embarrassed, I was not, the way that Black people stood up for me, and the way that Black women were like, ‘Ohh, no, you don’t do that for her. I was shocked, because I didn’t realize that what I had done in my career had so much impact,” Long added.

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Jeezy then talked about how such a reaction was always warranted. He called the actress “America’s sweetheart,” and claimed that she was always going to receive support in the aftermath of the controversy. Long herself claimed that she was shocked, and for her, acting had always been her work, rather than something she thought she would get recognition and support from.

Nia Long was adamant that the Boston Celtics could have handled matters privately

While Long is thankful for the kind of support that she has received, she claimed in an interview with The Cut back then that the Celtics had no reason to make the scandal public. According to VanityFair, Long claimed that the matter should have been handled internally.

She said that the Celtics’ actions proved that “fear drives stupidity”, and that she herself was much stronger than she had thought she was. Long and Ime have an 11-year-old son Kez from their relationship, and the actress claimed that she was for the time being solely focused on her youngest child.

Long gave out a composed reaction to the scandal, claiming that she was trying her best to not harbor any anger towards her ex. Talking about how her friends and family have supported her in the aftermath of the scandal, the veteran actress claimed that she was happy and only wanted to move on.